Kitchen Pet Peeves

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Wow, I must be a real moaner - I have a list as long as my arm!

1. People - ie my husband- snacking on foods that were meant to be part of a meal! We long since decided the best way to stick to a buget and still both be happy with our food was to have a brief discussion and prepare a loose menu plan at the beginning of the week. Of course it shifts and the meals never come in thee order we decided them too. I buy extra "snack" foods for emergency munching.

2. New milk being opened when the old one is not fished and milk being left outside the fridge. Yuk.

3. I really like it when people come and chat to me in the kitchen. There are even some jobs I am more than happy to share if help is offered. But if I say, to just pull up a chair have a drink and chat to me, that is what I mean. My kitchen, my food, me making it!

I sympathise with the cat thing, btw. I LOVE MY ANIMALS, but I spent a long time training the cats to NOT jump on benches. I have one cat for who a slight allowance is made, she is allowed to sit on my shoulder like a parrot, or in the apron pocket, if she is clean and well brushed. BUT never on the benches. Unfortunately the cats have been staying with my mother while we are looking for womewhere to live and she started putting their food bowls on an unused area of bench. Of course they can't tell the difference, so I have some bad habits to break when I get my cats back.
 
I always have to start cooking with a clean sink, no clutter and I have to do up the diahes as I go. Kitchen is sm. so I don't want anyone in it when I'm cooking.
 
lulu, my dh used to be the worst about snitching food as it finished cooking. We had a little talk about that and he now waits until the meal is served. One thing that is rather silly, but gets me every time it happens. DH will sit and watch tv or piddle on the computer all the while I'm making a meal. Then, just when he hears me stirring the tea, he asks "do you want me to get the ice?" Like that is a major job and a great help! huh? I could have used help before that. He does help clean up even if he does put clean dishes in the wrong place. I really don't know how to solve that problem.
 
a cluttered messy kitchen
old, obviously stale, rancid, or rotten ingredients in the fridge or on shelves
pans or dishes put back not fully cleaned
dull poorly maintained knives and or equipment
that's all!
 
I hate it was someone takes some water from the fridge and puts the container back with just a dribble left. Fill up the darn thing so the next person has something to pour into their cup please.
 
being Hovered over while busy or constanly having someone in the way when I want to turn around and walk or get something NOW (esp if it`s HOT).
the worst is some idot in there saying be carefull that knife`s Sharp!
you can put wager on the fact that you`ll cut yourself accidently (and not Them unfortunately).

people Not putting things back where they got them from, or worse, putting it back in the same place EMPTY!

don`t ask me about my kitchen peeves, I have too many!
 
I love having people in my kitchen, which is why, when I designed the house, I made the living area one large L-shaped room with the kitchen in the corner. I can watch TV or visit with the people in the living room area or dining area. There's a T-shaped island in the kitchen with my stove at one end, and a snack bar extending from it.That snack bar is where the chopping and other hand-prep goes on.

I'm always glad to have people helping me. It's part of the fun for me.

My peeves?
I cannot cook in a messy kitchen. Dirty dishes and other gras deux has to be cleaned up before I start. Then I'm really big about cleaning up as I go.
I simply DO NOT ALLOW people to chop on my counters or use improper utensils in my good cookware. Most of them aren't used to using $200 skillets, so I simply hand them the proper implement, and say, "Please use this."

I have a friend who comes over and cooks for us about once a week. It is so sweet of her, and the meals are always delcious, but she leaves the kitchen in an unholy mess. I hate to tell her it's more trouble to clean up after her than it would be for me to cook the meal myself.

I think my absolute worst pet peeve is when someone (usually my husband) tries to tell me how to cook something I've been making for 40 years. :mad:

I also hate it when someone asks my advice, then doesn't take it. Our son's fiancee made us a wonderful Mexican dinner last night, but said she wasn't very good at making Spanish Rice. I told her I'd be glad to either fix it, or tell her how to do it. But when she looked at my recipe, she went ahead and did it her own way, and it was, IMO, lousy. Have you ever heard of anyone putting a can of mixed vegies in their Spanish Rice?

Another thing I find extremely irritating is when someone automatically salts their food without tasting it first. I have no sympathy for them if they ruin their food.

Nibbling and tasting doesn't usually bother me, unless the person is eating something I need for a recipe. I was making my killer baked beans once, and fried up the bacon I needed for the topping. My MIL came in the kitchen and proceeded to make herself a bacon sandwich out of half of it. She said, "You don't need all that bacon." I was madder than a wet hen!

I guess the angriest I have ever gotten with a guest, though, was back when I was still canning. My ex's cousin used to help us with electrical work for no charge, and then I'd have the family (3 boys) over for dinner as a thank-you. But cousin's wife, a real biddy, didn't think home canning was safe, and wouldn't let her children eat anything she thought I had canned. I got the last laugh, though. She let them eat the new potatoes, which I HAD canned, but wouldn't let them eat the green beans, which were, in fact, frozen.:glare:
Her husband, however, ignored her preaching, ate everything, and had seconds.
 
Another thing I find extremely irritating is when someone automatically salts their food without tasting it first. I have no sympathy for them if they ruin their food.


Yes... I hate that too!
My father in law does it all the time. What can ya do though?
 
Don't bring the salt cellar to the table. That happened last night - the meat had marinated 5 hours in an amazing mix of seasonings, citrus juices, etc. and then had cooked with more amazing flavors. One guest asked for salt before she tasted the food. I told her it was properly seasoned and there was no salt.

Biggest peeves? The people who try to help by loading the dishwasher - with all the dishes facing away from the water source and piled in so that nothing will get clean.

Knives in my knife blocks are always put away with the blades facing in one direction - just hate it when someone puts them away facing opposite.

Worst is my daughter - who belives that there should be nothing AT ALL on the counters so she rearranged my kitchen when she comes to visit. I keep telling her that it's not nice to move things on old people.

And let's not even start on table manners!:wacko: :huh: :mad:
 
Woe to us if anyone starts listing issues about their cooks/kithens. There is probably no shortage of plaints about us:))
 
pdswife said:
Another thing I find extremely irritating is when someone automatically salts their food without tasting it first. I have no sympathy for them if they ruin their food.


Yes... I hate that too!
My father in law does it all the time. What can ya do though?
Yep that is one of mine too!!! Drives me crazy. Makes me want to make something right on the verge of being too salty so when they automatically add salt it will taste horrible.
 
I enjoy chatting with friends as I cook, but, I hate it when someone takes it upon themselves to adjust the heat of the cook unit for me..My m-i-l use to do that all the time and she really got me good. I was using a pressure cooker for the second time and I don't remember what she did but when I lifted the pot and went to remove the lid, it blew in the air and hot water came pouring all over me..Haven't used on since!!! I simply adore it when I find empty soda cans,milk cartons and such in the refrigerator..And I'm working on designing a gold medal for hubby and his helpful comments on what I'm doing wrong or if I did it this way or my favorite, but my mother never...I love our sunday dinners, but, could just cry everytime I find one of my knives (the sharp ones I hide) shoved in the dishwasher along with other utensils. How the heck they find them is beyond me. Please, don't load my dishwasher or wash my good dinning room table with a scouring pad!!! If you really have to have ketchup, could you please use it on hot dogs or hamburgers and not on filets and mushrooms????? Please!!!!
Just come visit, help a little if you want, enjoy a meal with us, laugh, talk, and go home and look forward to another time...

kadesma:)
 
(for HH)
cleaning the kitchen also means wiping off the stove and counters
(for daughter)
loading the dishwasher means putting cup-shaped items in such that water drains OUT and not INTO them.
(for other cooks)
don't say you aren't going to share that recipe. You're not that good.
(for self)
turn the oven off after you have used it.
 
Finding dirty dishes or utensils in the sink...and an empty dishwasher 4 feet away.

Not being able to close a cabinet door all the way because something is sticking out half an inch.

Having a service for 8 everyday flatware set...and always being short teaspoons within 4 months of having the set.

Getting canned tuna water all over the place when the electric can opener cycle finishes.

Running the same thing through the dishwasher 8 times and it never gets completely clean...and just not wanting to wash it by hand.

Having 5 eggs and needing 6.

Having to put the english muffin in the toaster a second time, and then it's too much.

My biggest pet peeve is the fact that I make my living as an executive chef and my personal kitchen is barely larger than a postage stamp. It's just not fair.:(
 
GB said:
I hate it was someone takes some water from the fridge and puts the container back with just a dribble left. Fill up the darn thing so the next person has something to pour into their cup please.

GB, when did my son move into your house??:LOL:
 
People not believing me when I say its under control, just sit and chat with me.

Dishwasher ugliness (such as you have all described so well)

Slipping on water dripped all over the floor when kids unload dishwasher.

Pouring a glass of water, drinking half of it and coming back to find the glass has been put in the dishwasher! :angry:

Someone using metal knives in my good baking pans.

OH YES...the empty bottles/cartons whatever put back in the fridge. ARGH.
 
After reading many of these I started to wonder what my mother would have put as her peeves with me when I was growing up. I remember once when I was supposed to be helping my sister with the dishes (we didn't have a dw back then) I went to the bathroom with a book and stayed til my sister did all the washing and drying. Another time I was going somewhere and it was my turn to do dishes. We finished dinner too late for me to do the dishes (my thinking, not mom's). I put them in the oven dirty. My mother was livid. I'm probably the only person who ever did such dastardly deeds to her mother.I have apologized to her.
 
:chef: :) When I go to my job in Texas[A private family] it's fast paced for me as I cook[I do the cooking all myself with a helper to serve and help clean up] the entire weekend for 14-18 people.It's gets really crowded in the kitchen when their guests sit across from me while Im trying to get the meal together at once.I will have one of my bosses run them out of the kitchen if Im really in the weeds.The other rule is nobody behind the island where I cook.I have too much going on at once and will not let guests or worse children get in my way.For the most part it's only in the last 30 minutes before Im ready to serve.As for the kids I have hot oil and boiling water for pasta or whatever Im doing it's too dangerous for them.
Oh Ya!And everything thing else everybody else has said.
Sounds like Im an awful person but actually Im very diplomatic.
Ive been working in Texas the last 10 years and they understand completley as the meals I make there are very expensive to make ,no room to screw up.:)
 
jpmcgrew said:
:chef: :) When I go to my job in Texas[A private family] it's fast paced for me as I cook[I do the cooking all myself with a helper to serve and help clean up] the entire weekend for 14-18 people.It's gets really crowded in the kitchen when their guests sit across from me while Im trying to get the meal together at once.I will have one of my bosses run them out of the kitchen if Im really in the weeds.The other rule is nobody behind the island where I cook.I have too much going on at once and will not let guests or worse children get in my way.For the most part it's only in the last 30 minutes before Im ready to serve.As for the kids I have hot oil and boiling water for pasta or whatever Im doing it's too dangerous for them.
Oh Ya!And everything thing else everybody else has said.
Sounds like Im an awful person but actually Im very diplomatic.
Ive been working in Texas the last 10 years and they understand completley as the meals I make there are very expensive to make ,no room to screw up.:)
You don't sound awful to me, you're cooking for these people, you're not the entertainment!!! Nor the baby sitter..Much as I love my little ones they get run out of the kitchen unless they sit at the table to chat with me when things are really going in the kitchen.

kadesma
 
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